Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Question 124: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position with regard to the operation of the Private Security Authority; the number of staff recruited by the authority; the services it is offering; the powers under the Private Security Services Act 2004 that it is implementing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10772/05]

Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)
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The Private Security Authority was established in October 2004 and is located in Tipperary town. The authority currently has a staff complement of five persons. It is envisaged that staffing levels will be increased appropriately over the coming weeks and months.

Since its establishment, the Private Security Authority has been formulating strategies for the implementation of the Private Security Services Act 2004. In particular, the authority intends to commence the licensing in October 2005 of companies where a nationally recognised standard for such companies already exists. The sectors concerned are security guarding, door security and event security. The licensing of these sectors will also facilitate future planning as it will generate high level statistics on the numbers of people involved in the various sectors of the industry. The authority is paying particular attention to issues arising in the context of cash escorts following my recent meeting with representatives of the security companies and financial institutions.

Licensing of companies in other sectors will be commenced on a phased basis as appropriate standards to support the relevant sectors are developed jointly by the PSA and the National Standards Authority of Ireland.

The provisions of the Private Security Services Act 2004 that have been commenced are detailed in S.I. 685 of 2004. These are: (a) Part 1; (b) sections 6 to 12, inclusive, 17 to 20, inclusive; and (c) Schedule 1.